No prom date? No problem, students say

Friday

Apr 24, 2009 at 12:01 AM

For this year’s prom, Dani Kniep is a party of one. Whether you call it going stag, flying solo, unescorted or single, you can’t call it missing out. That’s exactly why Kniep and others are appearing at prom, date or no date. And although some are going it alone, others are going their own, creative way. Samantha Thompson, 18, designed and sewed her own dress.

For this year’s prom, Dani Kniep is a party of one.

Whether you call it going stag, flying solo, unescorted or single, you can’t call it missing out. That’s exactly why Kniep and others are appearing at prom, date or no date.

“It’s the big bang of our senior year. We might as well have the most fun we can and leave all the confusing guy drama behind us,” said Kniep, 18, a senior Belvidere High School.

Going stag isn’t exactly all the rage, but students say it isn’t all that uncommon this year.

“There’s quite a few doing that,” said Stephenie Meyer, 17, who is going with her boyfriend, Nick Horan. “They want to just have fun, so they can hang out with everyone and anyone.”

Kniep is a four-year prom veteran. She went with a boyfriend when she was a freshman and sophomore, and with a guy friend last year. Going with a boy who is a friend, but not a “boyfriend,” can be a little awkward when the dance caters to couples, Kniep said.

So this year, she’s going with a foursome that includes gal pal Lea Wearmouth.

“Your senior year you want to go and dance with whoever you want and just have fun. Dates are kind of a hassle sometime,” said Wearmouth, 18, a senior who is also going stag. “I’m kind of relieved.”

Kniep said she wasn’t worried about getting teased for going alone.

“Yeah, we get jokes every now and then. But realistically, it’s actually happening a lot this year,” Kniep said. “It has everything to do with the boy population in Belvidere.”

Boys actually slightly outnumber the girls at Belvidere High School. But in Kniep’s senior class, there are about 20 more girls than boys in a class of 213 students, according to school head count statistics.

Although some are going it alone, others are going their own, creative way. Samantha Thompson, 18, of Belvidere, designed and sewed her own dress, a purple satin and black-lace mix she learned how to make through 4-H.

Thompson’s only concern is the dress’ ability to withstand high wind speeds. Weather pending, she and boyfriend Nick Schneider have talked about arriving on his motorcycle, something they’re sure no one else will do.

“You only get this opportunity once,” Thompson said. “You might as well go overboard.”

Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at 815-544-3452 or khaas@rrstar.com.

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